vSure Visa and Work Rights Compliance Blog

VLog: Single Touch Payroll and the implications on employee work rights

As a follow-up to his recent article on Single-Touch Payroll, in this 3 minute video, Matt talks about STP and the implications of the ATO’s Data Sharing Program on the Department of Home Affairs’ ability to automate audits of Australian

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Single Touch Payroll & Employee Work Rights

Single Touch Payroll is coming July 1, 2018 (less than 5 weeks from now), sees the introduction of Single Touch Payroll in Australia for companies with 20 or more employees. Ultimately STP is about the ATO having timely access to data on paid employees. Typically the ATO has only been getting information on employees pays,

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Abolition of the 457 Visa – What Does it Mean for the Hospitality Industry?

The 457 visa program has been used by hospitality businesses for many years to sponsor overseas workers. Some of the most frequently used 457 occupations are in the hospitality field – for instance chefs, cooks, cafe or restaurant managers. The 457 program was abolished effective 18 March 2018 and replaced with the Temporary Skills Shortage

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457 Visa Applications Slump by 41%

The latest quarterly statistics from the Department of Home Affairs indicates that the number of 457 visa applications lodged has reduced by 41% in the last year. From 1 July 2017 to 30 September 2017, only 8,160 applications for 457 visas were lodged compared to 13,880 for the corresponding period last year. There was a

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5 Reasons the TSS Visa will be Less Attractive to Employers than the 457 Visa

457 visas are due to be abolished in March 2018 and replaced by the Temporary Skills Shortage (TSS) or Subclass 482 visa. The TSS visa will operate in a similar way to the current 457 visa, but will be more difficult and expensive to obtain. This article goes through the 5 main differences between the 457

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NZ, UK Top List for Character Visa Cancellations

Visa cancellations hit record high Statistics released by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection indicate that visa cancellations are now at a record high. In the year ended 30 June 2017, 1,284 visas were cancelled on character grounds, up by 30% from the figure to June 2016. In 2010-11, only 137 visas were cancelled

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Taiwanese company paid employees as little as $4.90 an hour

The Fair Work Ombudsman recently took legal action against a manufacturing business that illegally exploited dozens of Chinese and Filipino workers for as little as $4.90 an hour. Taiwanese company, Chia Tung Development Corp and director Michael Chen-Fa Lin., brought over 43 temporary visa-holders two years ago to work as welders, metal fabricators and electricians installing animal feed mills

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Australian arm of Yogurberry food franchise facing legal action

Hot on the heels of revelations about rampant underpayment of 7-Eleven workers, the national Fair Work watchdog is now taking aim at the national yoghurt retail chain, Yogurberry. Yogurberry has been accused of underpaying four backpackers (on 417 working holiday visas,) many who spoke little English, almost $18,000 after being paid just $8 an hour initially and

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Cairns businessman jailed for running visa scam

A FORMER Cairns business man has been jailed for setting up a visa scam to exploit disadvantaged people wanting to move to Australia. Between January 2006 and June 2009, Sukhwant Sona Singh Bhela misrepresented himself as a registered migration agent and brought 43 applicants into the country through the elaborate visa scam. His offending included

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7-Eleven Franchise Fined Heavily – Just the Tip of the Iceberg

This week a 7-Eleven store whose owners systematically exploited workers has been fined more than $400,000. This is one of the largest penalties imposed by the Fair Work Ombudsman in Australia. The 7-Eleven store owner, Mr Sheng-Chieh Lo and his company Mai Pty Ltd have been fined on the basis that the: underpaid 12 employees a total of $82,661 implemented

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